“The greatest gift is a passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives you knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind. It is a moral illumination.” Elizabeth Hardwick

The Perils of Being Moderately Famous Book by @sakpataudi

12Jan

I’ve been seeing book promotions for this one and I really wanted to read this, purely based on curiosity since I saw some news articles where Soha Ali Khan had owned the internet trolls (yes I do shamelessly read the gossip columns too) Just saying but it is actually her command over the language (I read the excerpt on kindle before buying it) that truly made me read this.

What I absolutely loved about the book was the candidness, the flow of language, the little anecdotes that made the book so relatable and endearing.

There were portions I laughed out loud where Soha came across as someone who wanted to be modest but flaunted her illustrious background trying to be extremely subtle about it. She is entitled we know but the little things like being on a bus for the first time, that two bhk apartment was tiny accordingly to her; may seem pretentious when you compare it to the overall Indian standard of life, you tend to scorn. But the perspective remains that she is an erstwhile princess and after the end of dynastic rule the fortunes changed needs to be remembered in perspective in order to truly enjoy the book.

My favourite parts of the book was the parts about Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, where she narrated his obsession with the landline and how he was frugal in his choice of words as well. As an outsider there was a twinge of pain almost relating to how she still spoke to her dad (dad’s grave) and how despite being from such an illustrous family her parents’ endeavored to give her a normal life. The tiny faux pas, her boy friends, her pregnancy was relatable and in some ways very lovable.

I can’t say this enough, her language is what I just couldn’t get enough. This book is very well written, Soha’s command of the language, the lil nuances and those anecdotes that made the book such a brilliant read. If you didn’t already find her feisty, level headed and knowledgeable this book will totally change your mind.